Hide and Seek
by JamieTyler
Summary: When Jesse doesn't show up for a mission, the others have to find out what happened.


Sanctuary had always been Jesse's home, ever since Adam and Shalimar had pulled him out of Genomex. And Jesse knew that Sanctuary would be his home for as long as he wanted it to be. There was no place where he felt safer, more loved, and accepted. But Sanctuary was inside a mountain, which meant it was surrounded by layers and layers of rock. Rock that was pressing in on the walls and threatening to crush all who were inside….

There were times that Jesse really needed to get out of the mountain, like when his claustrophobia reared it's ugly head. Like it was doing right now. Tonight, Jesse could swear that the walls were closing in on him and the air was getting heavy and thick. It was getting harder and harder for him to breathe and he was fighting a growing sense of panic. He decided that it would be best for everybody if he got out for the evening.

Normally when there was mission the next day, Jesse didn't like to spend the night out. But this wasn't like he was going to go out to party; he was just going to spend the night at a safe house. So, after telling Adam what he was up too and promising Shalimar and Brennan that he'd be there at the meet location, he was off.

He planned on staying at safe house seven for the night. It was his favorite of the unused safe houses, mainly because it was the biggest. It was a huge warehouse type space with a couple of cots and a TV. Nothing fancy. It didn't even have a kitchen, but there was this great little diner just a block away. And that's where Jesse decided to go for dinner; after all he was feeling claustrophobic, not antisocial.

So, after dropping his stuff off at the safe house, Jesse walked down to the diner. It was a nice night, and he enjoyed the cool breeze that tickled his skin. He was disappointed to find the diner was packed; he knew that he wouldn't be able to stay there. Too many people made his claustrophobia return (ok, so maybe he was a little antisocial). So Jesse compromised, he ordered take out.

On his way back to the safe house, Jesse chose to cut his walk in half. So, he took a side street that ran between the block he was on and the block the safe house was on. This would turn out to be a catastrophic mistake.

Hiding in the shadows of the side street, a man who had long ago fully given in to his drug induced psychosis, watched Jesse approach. He had seen the blond earlier, passing by on his way to the diner. He had noticed him then for his blond hair; dark golden locks that seemed to have been touched by the sun.

Now, as he was able to more clearly study Jesse, he could see the perfection that was before him. The smooth skin, flawless and glowing, like a river stone bathed in clear water and sunlight. Eyes a color of blue that he had never known existed, that shone with inner light. The blond appeared to walk in a halo of light all his own, as if the world around him didn't touch him. He knew he had to have him.

As the blond neared him, he stepped from the shadows. The blond looked at him, confused for a moment. He slowed his pace and he shifted his stance into a defensive one. He tried to side step the man, but the man moved quickly, cutting him off. Again, the blond tried to step around the man, unwilling to resort to violence. This time, the man struck out, landing a lucky shot on the blonds chin.

Jesse stumbled back, dropping his food and crashing into the wall. He had seen the man, and instantly recognized the signs of a junkie. He didn't know what the junkie wanted, and he didn't really care. All he wanted to do was get around him and get home. He had tried to side step him, but the junkie moved unexpectedly quick and gracefully. The blow came as a complete surprise and Jesse was unprepared for it. He paid the price and he smacked his head against the brick of the building.

The blow stunned him for a moment, as his head screeched in protest. For an instant he saw stars, but as his vision cleared he saw the junkie approaching him. He tried to brace himself, tried to prepare for a fight, but the blows to his jaw and head had left him feeling slightly dizzy and it was too late. The Junkie was quicker than he was, perhaps even quicker than Shal.

The junkie was on top of him before Jesse could even inhale to phase. He wrapped his hand through Jesse's hair and yanked his head to one side, exposing his neck. Before Jesse could even think about struggling, the Junkie stabbed a needle into his neck.

There was a sharp stinging pain as something was injected into Jesse, and he felt the edges of his perception cave in. As darkness consumed him, the junkie let him slid to his knees. Jesse could have sworn he heard him say, "you're so pretty", but than again, he was unconscious.

LINE

Brennan was pissed.

No, he was beyond pissed. He was really, truly, one hundred percent pissed. He and Shalimar had walked into a GSA trap, and their back up had never shown up. They had been really lucky to get away, and Jesse will be really lucky if Brennan didn't rearrange his face.

Together, a seething Brennan and Shalimar, for she was equally as pissed, walked into the com. room. Adam and Emma were there, had been there since Shalimar had informed them of the trap and the lack of Jesse. Emma was working on the computers, probably running a trace for Jesse's com.

Adam stood as a physical buffer between the empath and the other two. Even he could sense the anger rippling off of them. He couldn't imagine what it felt like for Emma.

Brennan opened his mouth to speak, but Adam silenced with a wave of his hand. "You're mad at Jesse, and you have a right to be, but you're taking it out on Emma. I need you both to take a deep breath and calm down."

Both Shalimar and Brennan bristled at the words, but they knew their mentor was right. A glance to Emma showed that the younger woman was clearly having trouble dealing with their tempers, and so they forced themselves to relax.

"Have you found him?" Brennan asked, his jaw clenched.

"No. His com. signal is wacky, there's some kind of interference. And he's not picking up the safe house phone," Emma answered, worry in her voice. It was not like Jesse to not show up, not with out a reason. Something was off, and she was worried. She knew that Adam was worried as well and that the others might have been, if they weren't so angry.

Brennan sighed his frustration, and Shalimar paced. "So, let me guess, we're going to have to go find him?" Shalimar growled.

"We can't get an explanation if we can't talk to him," Adam said.

Shalimar growled, again, her eyes flashing, causing Adam to sigh internally. He understood that they had a close call and they had a right to be angry, but did they seriously think that Jesse would just abandon his duty? Well, Brennan might, but Shalimar should know Jess better than that.

"Yes, you two have to go out and look for him. Yes I know you're upset with him, and I understand. You have a right to be. But think about this, Jesse, for the first time, has missed a mission. He's not answering his com. or any phone calls. We can't even get a solid lock on his signal. Now, I don't know about you two, but that has me a little worried. This isn't like Jesse, and I for one, want to know what's happening. So, can you postpone your lynch mob until we have him back home?" Adam lectured his protégées.

Shalimar visibly relaxed as she sighed, some of her anger easing out of her. Listening to Adam, brought her out of her semi-primal rage and replaced some of that energy with worry. Brennan too relaxed, though he was not quite ready to give Jesse a free pass. Still, Adam took what he could get.

"Alright, you three go look for him. Start at safe house seven. I'll see if I can clear up this signal," Adam ordered.

LINE

Jesse was in a chair, at least he thought it was a chair. He wasn't sure. Everything around him was fuzzy. The air was fuzzy, the light was fuzzy, even the sounds were fuzzy. It wasn't a warm fuzzy either; it was cold and bitter. It was a muddled chain that kept him bound under a watery haze.

He didn't know that he was being held captive in a small dirty apartment that reeked of garbage and sewage. He didn't know that he was, in fact, in a chair, stripped of his clothes except for his jeans. He didn't know that his belt was being used to bind his wrists behind his back. He didn't know that the Junkie was busy cutting off chunks of Jesse's hair. And he could barely make out the words that the Junkie was singing.

"Pretty hair, pretty skin, pretty eyes, all mine, mine, mine…" The same eerie chant over and over again.

All Jesse was aware off was that his head was spinning in a blurry mess.

Eventually, the Junkie grew frustrated with Jesse's hair cut and stopped. He circled the helpless man absentmindedly snipping the air with his sheers. His eyes roamed Jesse's body with a hunger that made no sense. He wanted this man; he wanted his light. But he didn't know how to get it. He had tried cutting the light from his hair, but that hadn't worked. The light had retreated into the man's skin. How was he going to get it out of his skin?

Jesse whimpered. His mind was slipping into some nightmarish reality as it tried to fight through the fuzziness. The Junkie jumped. He didn't want him awake. If he was awake, then he could with hold the light from him and that would be bad. That would be very bad.

The Junkie pulled a needle from his pocket and stabbed it into Jesse's neck.

LINE

Jesse was not at safe house seven, and according to Shalimar, he hadn't been there last night. Or, at least, he hadn't slept there. An over night bag had been placed on one of the cots. Jesse's car was outside. But there was no Jesse.

"So what now?" Brennan asked the others. His voice no longer held the same anger as before, not now that it was clear something strange was going on.

"Emma, can you get hit off of him?" Shalimar asked.

The younger women closed her eyes and reached out with her mind. Like a stone hitting the water, Emma used her inner eye to create ripples in the network of thoughts and feelings that surrounded her. She searched through them, brushing aside the minds of strangers looking for just one. The familiar orange of Jesse's energy, and it was there. Way off in the distance, but it was there. And something was wrong, very, very wrong.

Jesse's energy was normally a vibrant orange that reminded Emma of the sunrays she always drew in grade school. It pulsed with his nervous and excited energy; it matched the rhythm of his power. This was not the same. This orange was muddied and still. There was no energy coursing through it. It was not the bright warm energy that she had always known. And then it was gone. All of the energies were gone and she was staring wide-eyed into worried feral eyes.

"Emma?" Shalimar asked, her voice harsh with worry.

Emma brought a shaky hand up to her face and felt tears. She had been crying…no, sobbing. She had been sobbing, judging by the worried faces around her.

"He's alive, but something's wrong. He's… He's not the same."

LINE

Jesse was floating. Drifting in black still water that never rippled. Not even as he moved through it. The blackness was cold and harsh, and he was afraid. He was so afraid. He was crying, he could feel the tears burning his skin, but there was no sound. There was only the eerie wind; wind that was talking to him.

"Pretty hair, pretty skin, pretty eyes, all mine, mine, mine."

Jesse whimpered as the water grabbed at him, touched his skin. He didn't want it on him. He didn't want it near him. He wanted to go home. He wanted to be in his own bed, in his own room where it was warm, and safe, and dry. He didn't want to be touched, but the water was everywhere.

The Junkie had dragged Jesse over to a beaten up coffee table. It had taken him some time to think of a way to get the light in the man's skin, but he had. Oh had he.

He laid Jesse on top of the table, so that Jesse's upper body was completely supported. The Junkie than untied Jesse's wrists and rebound them above Jesse's head, securing them to the table's legs. Jesse groaned, shaking his head from side to side. He was semi-conscious, though clearly unaware of his surroundings and the Junkie ignored him as he walked into the filthy kitchen.

He returned minutes later with a dull carving knife and straddled Jesse's groin. Jesse whimpered at the uncomfortable weight, his body tensing on instinct, but he could not escape the nightmare that engulfed him. The Junkie ignored Jesse's discomfort as he ran his fingers freely along Jesse's torso.

He traced a pattern in his mind, drawing a design that only his delusional eyes could see. Once his design was complete, he dug the knife into Jesse's skin and sawed away at the invisible lines. Jesse, as drugged as he was, still felt the burning pain and he screamed.

He screamed the whole time that the knife cut at him, even when his voice went raw. He screamed so much, that he whimpered with relief when the Junkie injected him with more of his drug.

LINE

The alleyway was empty. The only indication that Jesse had been there was the spoiled food and his fading scent. Shalimar had been able to locate what they suspected was the "abduction" site. At least, that was their leading theory since Shalimar could pick up another, unfamiliar scent, mingling with Jesse's.

"Can you follow the trail, Shalimar?" Adam asked, his voice strained with an attempt to remain calm.

"I'm trying, but there's a lot of interference," she answered, frustrated.

"Maybe I can help," Adam said, "I've managed to clean his com signal up some, it's west of you. Towards the docks."

Shalimar nodded, and moved in that direction, Brennan and Emma close behind. She ignored them, however, and swept her feral gaze along the roads leading to the docks. She forced herself to think like a predator, not like a worried mama lion. If she had pray that she wanted to keep hidden, what road would she take?

Her eyes narrowed in on a path that lead through a side street, the kind of streets that businesses used to hide their dumpsters. The kind of streets that were rarely traveled but had enough waste to mask a scent. She moved towards that street, instantly gagging at the smell of rotting garbage. But under that, were cinnamon and vanilla, and the smell of sandalwood, all things that Jesse smelt liked.

"This way," Shalimar growled, before sprinting off. She didn't care if the others followed, she could smell Jesse and that was enough.

LINE

Jesse was sobbing. His body was shaking. The water around him had turned to fire. It was burning his skin and melting his flesh away. He couldn't take it. He just couldn't handle the pain. He felt like a scared child; like little boy lost. He just wanted to go home.

As for the Junkie, the Junkie was mad. He had tried to cut the light of the man's skin, but it hadn't worked. Nothing was working. And he needed that light! He craved that light. He paced, agitated, his blood soaked hands smearing Jesse's blood over himself.

"Where is it? Where?!" he said over and over again, until his simmering temper finally boiled over. He rushed over to Jesse and wrapped his hands around the helpless man's throat, shaking him. "What did you do with it?! Give it to me! Give it to me!"

Jesse's eyes flew open, and he stared up at the Junkie, unseeing in his panic. The Junkie startled, and stumbled back, releasing Jesse. He stared at Jesse's eyes as the realization hit him, and then he laughed. It all made sense! So much sense!

The light was coming from his eyes!

LINE

The path that Shalimar lead them on was a twisted one. It didn't make and kind of sense. It was long and often looped in circles, like someone was trying to hide their trail.

"Or they're bat-shit crazy," Brennan thought to himself as he kept pace with Shalimar. He glanced behind him to make sure Emma was still on his heels and pulled up short.

Emma was a good ten feet behind him, doubled over in pain.

"Shal!" he called, drawing the feral's attention.

Shalimar looked behind her, ready to bite Brennan's head off for delaying her. Then she saw Emma. Brennan was already by her side, helping her to stand up. The empath's eyes were glowing, and Shalimar knew that, that meant she had connected to someone who was feeling a very strong emotion.

"Jesse…" Emma said, "Hurry!"

Shalimar took off, the urgency in Emma's voice driving her.

"Go with her," Emma ordered Brennan, "I'll catch up."

"You sure?" Brennan asked, already walking away after Shal.

"Yes! Go!" Emma cried, doubling over again.

Brennan hesitated for a moment, but then turned and raced after Shalimar. Whatever was wrong, Emma was sure that Shalimar was going to need help. That was all Brennan needed to know.

LINE

Jesse whimpered, his throat unable to make any other sound.

The Junkie sang his eerie chant in a sickeningly sweet singsong voice as he carefully inserted safety pins into Jesse's eyelids to pry them over. He was careful not to nick Jesse's eyeballs, but careless with the skin, hence why Jesse was whimpering.

In his mind, Jesse felt insects crawling on his face and biting at his eyes. He tried to wipe them away, but the water held his arms still, and the fire on his body made every movement unbearable. All he could do was lay still and whimper as bugs ate out his eyes.

The Junkie finished his task, and once again retreated into the kitchen. He returned minutes later with a spoon and a small knife. Just like before, he straddled Jesse, but this time setting his weight on Jesse's chest.

Jesse cried out as the pressure caused his wounds to flare with new pain. His cry was cut short, however, when the Junkie forced his head back. The Junkie studied Jesse's eyes for a moment, knife posed just above Jesse's right eye.

"Pretty eyes, mine, mine, mine…" the Junkie said as he moved in to carve out Jesse's eye.

He didn't get too far, however, before a charging feral kicked in the apartment door.

Shalimar stood in the doorway, processing the scene before her. Jesse was bleeding, whimpering, and bound, lying underneath a man with a knife. The man looked at her, an indescribable look in his face. He bared his teeth at Shalimar, and that was it.

Shalimar roared and charged him, tackling him. The two landed, Shalimar on top, half way across the room. By the time Brennan arrived, just seconds later, Shalimar had already beaten the man into unconsciousness and was still beating him, fully intent on killing him.

Brennan looked from her, to Jesse, back to Shalimar, and he understood why Emma had ordered him to go. It wasn't to help Shalimar; it was to stop her.

Brennan fired off a bolt of electricity, nothing that would hurt, at Shalimar, startling the feral. She jumped off of the man, spinning around to face Brennan with inhuman eyes. She snarled at him, ready to attack. And Brenna charged up again, ready to shock her if he had too. But he didn't.

Jesse whimpered, drawing Shalimar's full attention. Instantly, her eyes changed from rabid animal to mama lion, and she raced over to Jesse, gently running her hands down his tear streaked face. "It's alright, you're safe now, I've got you," she soothed, tearing up as she tried to comfort Jesse and horrified by what she saw.

Brennan bent down to free Jesse from his bonds. Jesse whimpered, no sobbed, as normal blood flow returned to his arms.

Brennan studied his friend for a moment, looking into the glazed eyes of the younger man and trying very hard not to look at his bloody chest or the safety pins. Jesse was staring vacantly into the room, and Brennan felt sick. He knew that stare, he'd seen it on several friends way back when he lived on the streets. It was never a good sign. "Shal, he's been drugged…I think he's been given ecstasy. I think he's ODing" Brennan said, his voice shaky.

Shalimar studied Jesse's face, swallowing back rage and bile as she saw what had been done to him. Looking past the safety pins holding his eyelids open, Shalimar saw the empty look in Jesse's eyes and hissed. "We need to get him to Adam," she said, "drugs and moleculars don't mix."

LINE

Adam exited the med bay, feeling every bit his age. He sighed, exhausted, as he approached Brennan and Emma. Shalimar, who had been assisting Adam, had stayed in the lab with Jesse, holding on to her 'cub's' hand.

"How is he?" Brennan asked, his own exhaustion reflected in his voice. He was sitting on the floor in front of the door, supporting Emma who was asleep.

Adam studied her, a smile briefly tugging at his lips. He had insisted that Emma go and get some sleep before he had focused his attention on Jesse. Apparently, he hadn't been completely ignored.

"Adam?" Brennan pressed.

Adam looked up at Brennan and gave another tired sigh. "He's… lucky. If you can call it that. With moleculars, drugs can have an either or effect. Either, the drug kills them quickly, or their body processes it quickly. Jesse's body is processing it, however, more intently than if he was with out his powers," Adam answered.

"What about… everything else?" Brennan asked, almost afraid.

"I've cleaned and stitched his chest wounds but I'm sure they're going to get infected considering how filthy the place he was kept in was. His eyes weren't injured, but I've had to bandage him because of the… safety pins. With in the next week the bandages can come off. Right now, however, my big concern is withdrawal."

"He's already started withdrawal?" Emma asked sleepily.

"How are you feeling, Emma?" Adam asked, fatherly.

"The headache's gone and I'm detached from Jesse," she answered, "He's in withdrawal?"

"Yes and it's going to be brutal. We'll have to watch him closely and there's nothing I can do to ease the pain," Adam answered looking back into the lab at Jesse.

LINE

Shalimar was carefully cutting Jesse's hair, fixing the damage that the bastard had done. She tried very hard not to look at the mass of bandages that covered her 'brother', or the paleness of his skin. She could smell the pain coming off of him and his whimpered sobs broke her heart.

Shalimar sighed as she finished. She set aside her sheers and began sweeping up the hair. Jesse seemed to be sleeping, albeit, restlessly. He twisted and turned, mumbling incoherently, and then, suddenly, he cried out, snapping out of his dream.

Shalimar was by his side in a flash, whispering soothing nonsense and running her hand through his hair. It took several minutes before Jesse calmed down enough to return to his restless sleep. Shalimar didn't move from his side though, too afraid to leave him incase the nightmare returned.

She regretted not killing the Junkie even more now. Why had she let Emma convince her to let her deal with the bastard?

LINE

It took three days, three god-awful days of cold sweats, vomiting, and violent hallucinations. Three day of sleepless nights and worry. Three days of close calls, and tension, but Jesse was finally free of the ecstasy.

He was sleeping deeply and more fully now. His fevers were less severe and quickly broke. His chest wounds had become infected, like Adam feared, but a round of antibiotics had helped to lessen the blow. Jesse was still extremely sick, but Adam wasn't afraid of the infection killing him. Another huge relief was that, as far as Adam could tell, Jesse hadn't received any blood pathogens like AIDS or tetanus from the wounds. Now it was just a matter of waiting for him to wake up on his own, which took another two days.

Shalimar was sitting by his side, where she had been pretty much the whole time. She ran a hand through Jesse's hair, staring at his bandage face. The wounds around Jesse's eyes were healing slower than Adam expected, which meant that the bandages would have to stay on longer. That was not an appealing thought.

"Why does this always happen to you, Jess?" she asked him, not expecting an answer, so she jumped when Jesse said her name. "Jesse?"

"Shal… I, can't see…" Jesse whimpered, his voice rough with sleep. He tried to move his hands to his face but Shalimar stopped him.

"It's alright, your eyes are just bandaged. That's all. Your sight is fine, you just have some cuts on your eyelids," Shalimar assured.

"What's happened? I… I don't remember…" Jesse asked, trying hard to remain clam.

Shalimar, keeping one hand on Jesse, activated her com. to alert Adam that Jesse was awake as she answered his question, "you were going to spend the night at safe house sever, remember?" Jesse nodded, so Shalimar continued, "somebody attacked you your way to the safe house. He drugged you with ecstasy and tortured you."

Jesse flinched as a memory was awoken in his mind, "I remember him in the alley. He stabbed me in the neck."

"That's where he injected you. You're okay though," Shal assured.

"Jesse?" Adam called from the doorway, Brennan and Emma at his heels.

"Adam?" Jesse answered, turning his head towards the sound of his mentor's voice.

Adam smiled and gave an approving nod as he approached Jesse, "How are you feeling?"

Jesse swallowed, trying to form a thought in his mind. Everything was scattered in his mind and it was hard to gather anything into a coherent thought. He was having, what he assumed were, flashbacks of his time on the drug and he was now noticing the aches and pain in his body.

A small and slender hand touched Jesse's shoulder and a calming energy pressed gently into him. Instantly his mind calmed and the pain in his body dulled. "Thanks Em," he said taking a moment to relax.

"You're ok, Jess," Emma said softly.

Jesse took a deep breath before addressing Adam's question, "My chest hurts. So does my head. How bad?"

"You're going to be fine, Jesse. It's going to take some time, but you're going to be fine," Adam promised.

Jesse nodded. He was suddenly very tired and felt himself drifting off to sleep.

"Go to sleep, Jess. It'll be alright," Emma assured him.

LINE

Another week had passed and Jesse was free of most of his bandages. But, now that his eyes had healed, he was free to leave the med bay and sleep in his room. More importantly, he was free to shower.

Showering was wonderful. He couldn't remember much about his time with the Junkie, but he had the distinct memory of bugs crawling on him and the smell of rotting garbage. It made his skin crawl. A long, hot, shower helped.

He had just finished one and was staring into the vanity mirror, examining his wounds. He was relieved to know that his face wouldn't have any scares but disgusted by the tiny gashes that were so close to blinding. It was strangely shaming to have had his hair chopped away, though he appreciated Shalimar taking the time and care to fix it. Not that he was all too happy with short hair; it made him look like he was twelve. The injuries that bothered him the most were the cuts on his chest.

They were deep and jagged varying in size and random in their placement. Perhaps one of the clearest memories he had of his torture was the dull knife sawing into his skin.

_His upper body was completely supported by a table. The Junkie tied his arms to the table's legs. The Junkie straddled Jesse's groin. He traced a senseless design onto his chest. The knife dug into his skin and was dragged across his chest. Over and over and over again; and there was a voice singing to him… "Pretty hair, pretty skin, pretty eyes; mine, mine, mine…" and he screamed._

Jesse gasped, shaking himself out of the memory. He took several deep breathes of air, trying his best to stop shaking. "It's over. You're fine," Jesse said to himself, eyes clenched shut.

A knock on the door forced Jesse to open them. "If you don't give me some kind of sign of life in five seconds, I'm coming in," Shalimar said.

Jesse sighed and wrapped a towel around his waist, covering up his lower half. "You can at least wait until I'm dressed," he said as the door opened.

"I warned you," Shal teased, "besides, it wouldn't be the first time."

Jesse blushed and looked at the floor, unable to meet his 'sister's' teasing stare. "Well, for my sake, can you wait?"

"Nope. I have to leave soon, Adam has us shutting down safe house seven. Brennan and Emma are currently scouting out a new one," she said, "I have to handle the computers since someone isn't allowed to leave his room."

"I don't see why you have to move the safe house. It… it didn't happen there," Jesse said as Shalimar guided him to his bed.

"Adam no longer likes the neighborhood. And the rest of us agree. Now, let's get you re-bandaged," Shal said.

Jesse sighed as he eased himself onto the foot of him bed.

"Do you want to lay down?" Shalimar asked before she started.

"I want to get dressed," Jesse grumbled, earning a laugh from h is teammate.

"It's your bed, you an sleep naked in it," Shalimar teased as she began bandaging Jesse's wounds.

Jesse glared at her, but said nothing. It was best not to taunt the one with the rubbing alcohol. Several minutes passed in silence, while Shalimar focused on her task. Jesse, however, broke the silence when he voiced a thought that was nagging at him, "He sang to me. When he was… cutting… he was singing something. That was the worst part and I don't know why."

Shalimar paused and studied Jesse. The young man was staring past her at the wall. She lightly took hold of his chin and forced him to look at her, what was his singing?"

Jesse swallowed and pulled free of Shalimar, but didn't look away. "Pretty hair… pretty skin… pretty eyes, mine, mine, mine," he answered, a shiver running through his spin, "He sang it over and over again. Those exact words."

"He was disturbed Jesse, a hundred percent, grade 'A' nut job. I don't know if there is a reason why, or any kind of explanation."

"So what am I suppose to do? How do I make sense of this?" Jesse asked, his eyes pleading for answers.

"By not letting him win. Don't let him creep into your head and stay there. You're home. You're safe. And you're alive. Let that make sense. Ok?"

Jesse nodded, though he was unsatisfied with the answer. Shalimar could sense this, but she didn't know what else to say. She finished bandaging Jesse's chest, trying to think of something else say.

"I almost wish he hadn't drugged me. I mean, I wish it never happened, but sense it did, I wish he hadn't drugged me. It's hard to have memories of something that don't make sense. I can't piece a clear picture because either something is missing, or it's wrapped."

"Emma could help with that," Shal offered.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't do that to her. Even if she offered, I wouldn't," Jesse said firmly.

Shal smile and kissed Jesse's brow, "And that is what makes you so wonderful. But, you're going to drive yourself crazy if you try to keep this inside. If you want to make sense of it, you're either going to need to talk to Adam or have Emma help you."

Jesse nodded, then sighed. "Am I done?" he asked, pushing the grim conversation into the past.

"Yeah. Get dressed. Get some rest. I'll check on you later, alright?" Shal answered, messing Jesse's hair.

Jesse batted her hand away with an un-amused glare, "don't mess up my computer, ok?"

"I won't," Shal called as she left Jesse alone.

Jesse sat on his bed for a long moment, gathering his thoughts. Finally, he got up, got dressed, and crawled back into bed. Whatever kind of sense he was going to make of everything, wasn't going to be made right now and trying to rush the process was giving him a headache. Right now, in the current moment, Jesse chose to listen to Shalimar.

He was home. He was safe. And he was alive. All of that made sense.


End file.
